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Abstract
The present paper argues that experimental phenomenology has an important role to play in research on mindfulness. Experimental phenomenology is defined as a subcategory of phenomenology (defined as the science of our subjective experience of being in the world), which explores the effects of intentional variations of subjective experiencing (direction of attention and choice of attitude) on subsequent experience. To count as experimental phenomenology, both the independent and dependent variable have to be phenomenological. Because mindfulness involves paying attention to present experience with a specific attitude, it is well suited for experimental-phenomenological research. What makes experimental phenomenology into a scientific endeavor is the intersubjective nature of this kind of study: potential effects described by one person can be subjected to replication both by the same person, and by other persons. Also, conclusions drawn on the basis of this kind of study are hypothetical and provisional, and may be modified or specified on the basis of further study. In this paper, the principles of experimental phenomenology are illustrated by (a) variations of a given mindfulness practice (the body scan), and (b) the construction of a personalized mindfulness practice (mindful driving). Finally, three varieties of experimental phenomenology in research on mindfulness are discussed: (1) the use of qualitative methods to analyze mindfulness practices and their potential effects, (2) idiographic research with the use of single-subject designs and experience sampling, and (3) randomized controlled studies of the effects of mindfulness practices on present experience.
Highlights
The present paper argues that experimental phenomenology has an important role to play in research on mindfulness
In the third and final section, three different varieties of experimental-phenomenological research are discussed in a broader methodological perspective: (1) the use of descriptive-phenomenological methods to document and explore phenomenological practices and their potential effects, (2) idiographic research with the use of single-subject designs and experience sampling, and (3) controlled effect studies on the group level
What is required to make the study of phenomenological practices into an experimental phenomenology is that it does not rest only on the observation of what happens after engaging in a phenomenological practice, but involves an active intervention in the form of an intentional variation of such phenomenological practices
Summary
Phenomenology can be defined as the scientific analysis of our subjective experience of being in the world. According to Husserl (1938/1970), to use a phenomenological method means to turn our attention to conscious experience as such As he formulates it, this represents a shift in perspective from our usual natural attitude with its focus on the world (and our practical engagement with things in the world) to a phenomenological attitude characterized by a focus on our experiences of being in the world. This kind of change of perspective is referred to by Husserl as an epoché. Theoretical and descriptive phenomenology are discussed briefly, for the purpose of clarifying how experimental phenomenology is related to, and different from, these varieties of phenomenology
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